Thematically illustrated icosahedron assemblage and method of assembly

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed an article of manufacture and a method of assembly for an ornamental icosahedron having printed on each face portion thereof a thematic illustration for relating various stories in a sequential manner. The ornamental icosahedron comprises a multiplicity of circular sheets of paper or other similar material, each of said sheets having scored lines in the shape of a triangle within the circumference of the circular sheet, each scored line of the triangle and its related arc portion of the circumference of the sheet defining a segmented foldable area having an adhesive material formed thereon, each segment also being numerically marked in a sequential manner to correspond to other sequentially marked segments of other sheets, whereby said segmented areas are secured to matching segments, thus forming and ornamental icosahedron as a single unit.

STROEHMER THEMATICALLY ILLUSTRATED ICOSAHEDRON A ril 17, 1973 ASSEMBLAGE AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY Flled July 27, 1971 v Frank [Sf/066mm;

INVENTOR.

United States Patent O US. Cl. 161-14 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is disclosed an article of manufacture and a method of assembly for an ornamental icosahedron having printed on each face portion thereof a thematic illustration for relating various stories in a sequential manner. The ornamental icosahedron comprises a multiplicity of circular sheets of paper or other similar material, each of said sheets having scored lines in the shape of a triangle within the circumference of the circular sheet, each scored line of the triangle and its related arc portion of the circumference of the sheet defining a segmented foldable area having an adhesive material formed thereon, each segment also being numerically marked in a sequential manner to correspond to other sequentially marked segments of other sheets, whereby said segmented areas are secured to matching segments, thus forming an ornamental icosahedron as a single unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of the following:

Inventor: Frank J. Stroehmer Title: Thematically Illustrated Icosahedron Assemblage Ser. No.: 875,423

Filed: Feb. 6, 1970, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to an ornamental assemblage and relates, more particularly, to an ornamental assemblage having an icosahedron configuration, each face portion thereof presenting a sequential topic.

Description of the prior art There are various kinds of ornamental displays and articles, particularly those used as Christmas decorations, most of which are designed with such configurations and materials as to be delicate to handle, manufacture, package and ship. Generally, these are of a type which are not capable of being assembled by individuals who purchase them and, in addition, are not practical items to be sent in the mail, particularly at Christmas time.

However, there are other types of ornaments that answer the above problems of packaging and shipping but these, also, leave much to be desired. To the applicants knowledge, no such article is made in which a combination of various end results occur. These end results are the unique configuration of the item itself which has a pictorial representation of a story presented thereon and, as the ornament is assembled, the story unfolding in a sequential order, at which time the unit becomes a decorative article which can be used as an ornament to hang on a Christmas tree or another conspicuous place so that the story presented thereon can be properly seen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises a multiplicity of circular sheets of material, preferably of a paper composition,

3,728,201 Patented Apr. 17, 1973 although some types of sheet plastic can be used, said circular sheets being provided with score lines having the form of an equilateral triangle within the circumferential area of each sheet, the score lines being used as fold lines wherein the folded segmented area includes the space between each line of the triangle and the adjacent arc portion of the circumference of the circular sheet. The segmented foldable areas defined on the circular sheets are sequentially and numerically numbered. Hence, each circular sheet includes three foldable segmented areas, each area being provided with numbers or other distinguishable identifying marks so that proper sequential assembly of the icosahedron can be accomplished. A numbered area or tab of one sheet has an identical matching number on a corresponding tab of an adjacent circular sheet. Thus, by matching corresponding numbered tabs of the entire group of sheets (in this case 20 which is required to construct a icosahedron), the unit is assembled in a sequential manner, at which time a story is unfolded because of the pictorial representation printed on the outer face of each sheet. The tabs are folded along the score lines outwardly to form somewhat of a frame about the printed subject matter, each tab being secured to its adjacent tab by means of an adhesive, such as glue or a contact adhesive.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide an ornament having an icosahedron configuration that is assembled by use of a multiplicity of circular sheets having multiple tabs for securing said sheets together in a sequential order.

It is another object of the invention to provide an ornament of this character wherein said tabs form a frame.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an ornament of this character that can be readily assembled by anyone, including a child.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an ornament of this character wherein each outer face of each segment of the icosahedron presents a thematicallyillustrated story in sequence as the ornament is assembled.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ornament of this character wherein the assemblage of said sheets includes a method of numbering corresponding sequential numerals positioned on each folded tab, wherein said corresponding numbered tabs are secured together.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an ornament of this character that is simple in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other characteristics, advantages and objects of my invention can be more readily appreciated from the following description and appended claims. When taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, this description forms a part of the specification wherein like references and characters designate corresponding parts in sev eral views.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view illustrating a multiplicity of circular sheets showing the reverse side thereof which is scored and marked;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the invention shown fully assembled;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2 illustrating the folding and securing of the related tabs; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the assembled invention with pictorial representation thereon.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a layout of a multiplicity of circular sheets, generally indicated at 10, which are arranged in a particular sequence for ease of assembly to form a configuration representing an icosahedron, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 4 and indicated generally by numeral 12.

'It is contemplated that the circular sheets will be made from a paper product, such as a heavy stock paper or cardboard, capable of receiving printable subject matter thereon, preferably on the outer surface thereof. However, it should be understood that various types of plastics having the capability of receiving printed matter, such as pictures, printing or the like, may also be used.

Each circular or disc-shaped sheet is provided within its circumference 14 with a plurality of scored lines, indicated in the drawings as dotted lines 16. These lines are formed therein in the shape of an equilateral triangle which, in turn, forms three equal cords, AB, B-C and A-C, which determine three equal arcs, 18, 19 and 20. These segmented areas are defined by their respective cords and arcs and are numbered in a sequential manner which represent individual foldable tabs, indicated by numerals 22, 24 and 26, respectively.

As seen in FIG. 1, there are 20 circular sheets required to form an icosahedron configuration and, as mentioned, each is provided with 3 tabs which are folded outwardly from the printed outer surface to provide means for attaching its adjacent sheets and this is done in a sequential manner, as indicated by markings within each tab. The markings as shown are indicated by smaller numbers within each tab commencing with 1 and continuing through 28. For every number on a tab there is a second similarly marked tab of another sheet to correspond and be secured to each other. That is, tab 1 of sheet 10a is secured to tab 1 of sheet 10e, tab 2 of sheet 10a is secured to tab 2 of sheet 10]); tab 3 of sheet 10b is secured to tab 3 of sheet 10c; tab 4 of sheet 100 is secured to tab 4 of sheet 10d; and so on, each numbered tab being secured to its matching numbered tab on other circular sheets.

The securing means can be accomplished in many different Ways. However, a glue or contact adhesive is disposed over the entire tab segmented area, such as areas 22, 24 and 26.

As the numerically sequential assembly takes place, the outer face portion of each sheet has printed thereon a picture or a lithographic scene and these pictures, or the like, are also placed in a sequential order so that a story can be told with a particular theme. Therefore, various themes can be presented, depending on the occasion, such as at Christmas time when the theme may be either of a religious or a secular nature, or a combination of the two. The presentation of the above-mentioned themes is rep resented and indicated on the imprinted surface 30 in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 3 in which a cross section of a portion of the assembled ornament is clearly shown, it can be seen how the tabs are folded along the scored lines 16 in an outwardly direction from the imprinted surface 30 to provide a frame-like structure with each congruent and contiguous tab.

While I have shown and described particular embodiments of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from my invention in its broader aspects and I, therefore, aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture forming an ornamental icosahedron assemblage, comprising:

a multiplicity of sheets having scored lines indicated on at least one side thereof, and printed matter indicated on the outer surface thereof;

a plurality of foldable tabs formed by the outer edge of said sheets and said scored lines, said tabs being se quentially marked for securing with matching sequentially-marked tabs; and

securing means disposed on said tabs for securing said sheets together in a sequential manner to form said ornamental icosahedron,

2. An article of manufacture as recited in claim 1, wherein said tabs form a frame about said printed matter, providing structural stability to said assemblage.

3. An article of manufacture as recited in claim 2, wherein said securing means comprises an adhesive material. I

4. An article of manufacture forming an ornamental icosahedron assemblage comprising:

a multiplicity of sheets having scored lines indicated on at least one side thereof, and printed matter indicated on the outer surface of each sheet in a sequential manner in order to relate a story having a particular theme, wherein said sheets are circular in shape having said scored lines within the circumference thereof and forming an equilateral triangle thereon;

a plurality of foldable tabs formed by the outer edge of said sheets and said scored lines, said tabs being sequentially marked for securing with matching sequentially-marked tabs, and wherein said tabs form a frame about said printed matter, providing structural stability to said assemblage; and

securing means comprising an adhesive material disposed on said tabs for securing said sheets together in a sequential manner to form said ornamental icosahedron.

5. An article of manufacture as recited in claim 4,

wherein said sheets are formed from a paper material.

6. A method of forming an icosahedron structure, comprising the steps of:

forming a plurality of circular sheets;

scoring said sheets with triangular lines in order to form three distinct foldable tabs;

folding said tabs outwardly along said scored lines in order to form a frame on each of said sheets; and

securing said tabs in a sequential manner in order to form said icosahedron.

7. A method of forming an icosahedron as recited in claim 6, including the steps of sequentially numbering said tabs and wherein each numbered tab of each sheet has a matching numbered tab on a corresponding sheet for securing thereto in a sequential manner.

8. A method of forming an icosahedron as recited in claim 7, including printing thematic stories in the form of pictures on the outer surface of said sheets.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,292,188 1/ 1919 Wheeler 46-24 3,203,144 8/1965 Fuller 52-81 2,200,203 5/1940 Heintz 156-277 X 3,461,574 8/1969 Larsen et al. 35-72 2,406,164 8/1946 Raisz 35-46 PHILIP DIER, Primary Examiner U .S. Cl. X.R. 

